Saturday, October 29, 2016

World
War II Biopic Chronicles Battlefield Exploits of Heroic Army Medic

Desmond
Doss (Andrew Garfield) was born in the Blue Ridge Mountains where he
was raised as a Seventh-day Adventist. Devoutly religious, he
followed his faith's literal interpretation of the 10 Commandments,
including the 5th's dictate that "Thou shalt not kill." So,
when he rushed to enlisted in the Army right after the Japanese sneak
attack on Pearl Harbor, he did so as a Conscientious Objector.

But
because he was unwilling to touch, let alone carry a weapon, Desmond
was teased mercilessly by other members of his platoon. In fact, he
was not only beaten to a pulp by a bully (Luke Bracey), but
court-martialed for failing to complete the weapons part of basic
training.

However,
the military tribunal ruled in Desmond's favor after his World War I
veteran father (Hugo Weaving) showed up to testify on his behalf.
Still, his fellow G.I.s remained reluctant to embrace a comrade they
suspected to be a coward, since they had just been taught by
hard-nosed Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn) that a unit was no stronger
than its weakest link.

Nevertheless,
Desmond was commissioned as a medic with the 307th Infantry with whom
he would more than prove his mettle on the island of Okinawa in the
bloodiest battle of World War II. For, he exhibited extraordinary
courage over the course of a month spent dodging bullets and bombs to
attend to the wounded during the siege of Hacksaw Ridge.

Desmond
would save the lives of 75 grateful soldiers, and his selfless
exploits would be appreciated by both grateful buddies and the
Pentagon. And the heroic medic eventually became the first
Conscientious Objector to be awarded the Congressional Medal of
Honor.

All
of the above is recounted in riveting fashion in Hacksaw Ridge, a
gripping biopic directed by Mel Gibson. Fair warning: the film
features very graphic battlefield tableaux reminiscent of the gory
D-Day reenactments found in Saving Private Ryan (1998).

When
not devoting its attention to recreating gruesome war scenes, the
flashback flick focuses on Desmond's formative years , as well as to
his whirlwind romance with Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Palmer), the
pretty nurse he fell in love with at first sight and married shortly
before shipping out for the Pacific Theater of Operations. The film
fittingly brings down the curtain with archival newsreels and stills
of the real-life Desmond and Dorothy to ensure there won't be a dry
eye in the house following the closing credits.

A moving portrait of an unorthodox war hero who contributed
considerably to the effort without ever wielding a weapon against the
enemy.

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KamWilliams.com

The Sly Fox Film Reviews publishes the content of film critic Kam Williams. Voted Most Outstanding Journalist of the Decade by the Disilgold Soul Literary Review in 2008, Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic who writes for 100+ publications around the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada and the Caribbean. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Online, the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee and Rotten Tomatoes.

In addition to a BA in Black Studies from Cornell, he has an MA in English from Brown, an MBA from The Wharton School, and a JD from Boston University. Kam lives in Princeton, NJ with his wife and son.